Moscow Monumental : Soviet Skyscrapers and Urban Life in Stalin's Capital

**An in-depth history of the Stalinist skyscraper** In the early years of the Cold War, the skyline of Moscow was forever transformed by a citywide skyscraper building project. As the steel girders of the monumental towers went up, the centuries-old metropolis was reinvented to embody the greatness of Stalinist society. __Moscow Monumental__ explores how the quintessential architectural works of the late Stalin era fundamentally reshaped daily life in the Soviet capital. Drawing on a wealth of original archival research, Katherine Zubovich examines the decisions and actions of Soviet elites—from top leaders to master architects—and describes the experiences of ordinary Muscovites who found their lives uprooted by the ambitious skyscraper project. She shows how the Stalin-era quest for monumentalism was rooted in the Soviet Union's engagement with Western trends in architecture and planning, and how the skyscrapers required the creation of a vast and complex infrastructure. As laborers flooded into the city, authorities evicted and rehoused tens of thousands of city residents living on the plots selected for development. When completed in the mid-1950s, these seven ornate neoclassical buildings served as elite apartment complexes, luxury hotels, and ministry and university headquarters. __Moscow Monumental__ tells a story that is both local and broadly transnational, taking readers from the streets of interwar Moscow and New York to the marble-clad halls of the bombastic postwar structures that continue to define the Russian capital today.

An in-depth history of the Stalinist skyscraperIn the early years of the Cold War, the skyline of Moscow wasforever transformed by a citywide skyscraper building project. Asthe steel girders of the monumental towers went up, thecenturies-old metropolis was reinvented to embody the greatness ofStalinist society. Moscow Monumental explores how thequintessential architectural works of the late Stalin erafundamentally reshaped daily life in the Soviet capital. Drawing ona wealth of original archival research, Katherine Zubovich examinesthe decisions and actions of Soviet elites-from top leaders tomaster architects-and describes the experiences of ordinaryMuscovites who found their lives uprooted by the ambitiousskyscraper project. She shows how the Stalin-era quest formonumentalism was rooted in the Soviet Union's engagement withWestern trends in architecture and planning, and how theskyscrapers required the creation of a vast and complexinfrastructure. As laborers flooded into the city, authoritiesevicted and rehoused tens of thousands of city residents living onthe plots selected for development. When completed in themid-1950s, these seven ornate neoclassical buildings served aselite apartment complexes, luxury hotels, and ministry anduniversity headquarters. Moscow Monumental tells a storythat is both local and broadly transnational, taking readers fromthe streets of interwar Moscow and New York to the marble-cladhalls of the bombastic postwar structures that continue to definethe Russian capital today.